Microsoft Surface 2 and the working journalist, day one

Doing real work is the only
sensible way to review a device like the Surface 2. I my
book readers are more interested in knowing how a
device performs in real life, not on a test bench.

I’m
a journalist, so I used the Microsoft Surface 2 to
share my first impressions of using the tablet as a
digital portable typewriter. Here I just deal with the
out-of-the-box experience, I'll tell you more about the
everyday practicalities of the device when I've a little
more testing under my belt.

From the moment you take the
Surface 2 out of its box, you know it’s a contender.
It’s small, thin and light. According to
the paper specifications it weighs 680g
– that's about 10 percent heavier than the iPad 2
and 25g more than the iPad 4.

Microsoft Surface 2
is solid

It’s solid and well-engineered. It
doesn’t flex worryingly when you hold it and although it
is by no means heavy, it has a comforting degree of
heft. The case is made of magnesium, which only adds to the
sturdy, industrial feel. It fits neatly into a briefcase. I
use a leather document case for my iPad and that works just
as well with Microsoft’s device.

All of which means the
Surface 2 certainly looks up the punishment it’ll get
being taken to and from press conferences or interviews.
When I'm running around, I tend to pull out my working
devices between gigs to writing up stories
in Wi-Fi equipped cafes. While you can say the same about
the iPad, few Android tablets have this kind of physical
build quality.

The Surface 2 is fractionally larger than
an iPad, mainly because it has a longer, narrower 10.6
inch widescreen display. This display format works well
with writing apps like Microsoft Word when the tablet is
used with its keyboard and the screen is in landscape
mode. I find it a little narrow when I'm holding the device
in portrait orientation, but that's nothing I can't get used
to.

Kickstand

On the back there’s a
kickstand, which supports the display at one of two angles
when you work at a desk. At the
Auckland product launch a Microsoft demonstrator used
the kickstand to rest the Surface on his lap. That’s not
something I would do, but if that’s how you roll, it
could work for you.

Although a first sight the
kickstand seems trivial, even cosmetic, it turns out
to be a notable point of difference between the Surface and
other tablets.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference
between the Surface 2 and the original Surface is the
screen. It is crisp, particularly when displaying black
text on a white background while word processing
practical.

Beautiful type

Microsoft is a long
way ahead of rivals when it comes to displaying
text. Presumably the Surface 2 uses
Microsoft's Cleartype technology. I've no idea. Whatever
is going on here, it works. Type is important for a writer,
apart from anything else, better quality presentation makes
it easier to proof-read your own work.

I had no trouble
reading the screen at all. There display has 1920 by
1200 pixels – that’s better than low-end laptops but
considerably less than in current iPad models. In practice,
it's more than good enough for my journalism work. I suspect
if I was a photographer I might be more inclined towards an
iPad with a Retina display.

Touch works fine on the
screen, Microsoft says the display can handle five points of
contact at any time. I wouldn’t know about that, I never
use more than three.

Keyboard

There's no
keyboard in the Surface 2 box. Instead users have a choice
of keyboards which are purchased as extras. The review
Surface came with the Touch Cover 2 which is largely good.
On the plus side it is remarkably tough despite
being less than 3mm thick. I love the way the keys are
backlit – it's a wonderful addition and can help
productivity in low-light conditions.

Keys are touch
sensitive. They make a click sound to provide feedback as
you type. In practice I find the clicking sound stops and
starts seemingly at random. That could be down to my
unknowingly switching the feature off and on. I need to
investigate this.

I’m an old school touch typist. I
learnt my craft on the big heavy typewriter keyboards you
used to find in newspaper offices. Despite this, I
don't run into problems with the lack of travel. My
problem with the keyboard is it is just a touch too small
for my clumsy hands. At first I found myself making more
errors than normal and after a while I had a touch of
discomfort in my hands. There’s no real way around this,
it isn’t possible to squeeze a full sized keyboard into a
space that’s only 270mm wide.

Having said that, I’ve
managed to type this review only marginally less quickly
than on my normal computer – so perhaps this isn’t the
problem, it appears to be.

To the front of the keyboard is
a trackpad for moving the cursor or mouse around the
screen. I find myself using this frequently as it saves
moving my hands from the keyboard to the touch
screen.

Interesting problem

During my first
day with the Surface 2 I ran into a teething problem. It's
not a design fault, more a case of operator error. The
device's power supply is a square shaped block that plugs
into an outlet. Or in my case it didn't - I have a
distribution board designed to accept round plugs and so the
Surface power supply block didn't make contact and wasn't
charging when I thought it was.

Helpfully there's an LED
where the power supply plugs into the tablet which lights
when it is recharging the battery. This didn't come on and,
because the device is new, I wasn't looking for it. So I was
blissfully unaware the device was running out of juice until
I got a software warning.

Overall the Surface 2 is a big
improvement over the original Surface. I would be wary of
using the older device for my work. The screen and keyboard
on the newer version seem right, there's enough power to do
my work. While others are negative about the Windows RT
software, at this stage that doesn't look to be a problem
for my day-to-day needs as a journalist. That conclusion may
change after I've spent a bit more time with the Surface
2.

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